Alza Boosts Oncology With $580M Sequus Acquisition

California, USA-based companies Alza Corp and Sequus Pharmaceuticalshave entered into a definitive merger agreement, whereby Alza will acquire Sequus in a stock-for-stock transaction with a total value of $580 million.

Drug delivery specialist Alza says the acquisition will significantly strengthen its commercial product portfolio in oncology and enhance the company's R&D capability. In particular, Alza chairman and chief executive Ernest Mario noted, Sequus' product Doxil (doxorubicin HCl) "is a logical extension of our strategy and adds a proven oncology therapeutic to our portfolio along with a core technology platform for additional oncology products."

Under the terms of the agreement, Alza will acquire all Sequus' outstanding stock in a tax-free stock transaction. Sequus shareholders will receive 0.4 shares of Alza common stock for each Sequus common stock. Based on Alza's closing stock price of $42.4375 per share on October 2, the transaction has a value of $16.975 per share for Sequus shareholders. The deal is subject to regulatory and Sequus' shareholder approvals, and is expected to close late-1998 or early-1999.